Chapter Ten: Gold Star
BA rolled over. With eyes closed, he reached out and shoved the bear off the edge of the bed. Stupid fool always putting that stuffed animal in…
He lurched upright into a sitting position; his stiff body aching with the movement. He blinked. Where was he and what was up with all the floral patterns? This reminded him of his grandma's apartment.
Glancing around the unfamiliar room, he quickly spotted a note pinned to the headboard. Reaching up, he paused. Where were his rings? Frantically, BA's hands fumbled over his bare neck. Someone stole his gold!
"Murdock! Where you at? My gold is gone, Fool. Hey!"
Getting no reply, he snatched up the note and unfolded it.
BA,
I'll be back soon. I went to find some info on Face and Hannibal. Barry will keep you company until I get back. There are juice boxes (not drugged, I promise) on top of the dresser along with some crackers.
~Murdock
PS. I borrowed your gold to get supplies. Thanks.
Nearly shaking with rage, BA wadded up the paper and tossed it across the room.
"I'm gonna kill that fool."
Murdock heart started racing as he peeked into the dark motel room. At least he would die looking good. The suit was snazzy, and the Rolex was nice too. Well, he had to look the part. Biting his lip, he glanced around. He was pretty sure that BA was going to kill him; nope, now that he thought it over, he was postive BA was going to kill him.
The Captain stepped inside and carefully, so as not to make any unnecessary noise, closed the door. Reaching for the light switch, he froze, feeling the weight of the Sergeant's gaze.
"Fool, where's my gold?"
Spinning around, Murdock grinned toward the large figure half hidden within the shadows. "Ah, uh, BA? I had to…um….borrow it?"
The Sergeant stepped forward into the light, with biceps bulging. It seemed as if his strength had fully returned. Murdock cringed. Jaw tightened, fists clenched, BA glared across the room.
"That's some nice clothes you got there and a new watch too?"
"I'll get your gold back, I promise." Murdock whimpered, hoping that would sooth the big guy for now, but, in honesty, he wasn't sure if was going to be able to get it all back. It had taken a lot of bartering with a lot of different people to get all the supplies they needed.
BA took another step forward, the gleam in his eye hovering dangerously between rage and self-restraint. "When this is all over," he growled, "you'll get all my gold back."
That wasn't a solution, only a postponement of pain, but Murdock let the wave of relief wash over him. Well, now that he knew he wasn't going to be pounded into a pulp right away, it was nice to see the big guy looking so much better. That nap must have really helped him out.
The Sergeant's frown grew. "So, what's the plan?"
"Oh, yeah…" Murdock blinked. It was getting a little hard to concentrate; his fatigue was starting to get the better of him. "It took some time, but some of the locals finally tipped me off to a group of gorgeous gals that were working for a local scumbag. The ladies track down wealthy gentlemen and then entice them to private location and wham!"
"Of course Faceman would stumble across that setup." BA cracked a slight smile before letting his scowl return.
"Well, I figured that maybe you could make a tracking device and then we could dangle some bait out there for the ladies."
"You?" BA laughed, his tough guy act forgotten. "Naw, fool, that won't work."
"It will too. Besides, you're not exactly smooth with women. I don't think they'd want to be messing with an ugly mudsucker like you anyhow. Why one look at that sour, angry face o' yours and they'd know something was fishy."
BA stared down at the floor, seemingly contemplating what Murdock had said. Folding his arms, he gave a slight grunt of consent.
"Fine, I'll work on the tracking device, and you'll…"
"Bring in the rest of the supplies and then get some rest." Murdock chimed in; he felt ready to collapse.
He glanced up at BA, waiting for the big guy to argue, but the Sergeant nodded. Wow, Murdock must have looked as haggard as he felt. Turing to head back outside for the supplies, he halted at the sound of BA's voice.
"Fool, I can't believe you drugged the grape juice. What if I had drank the milk instead?"
The Captain looked back over his shoulder and grinned. "Well, that was drugged too."
At BA's deep growl, Murdock hurried away, but he spotted Barry hiding under the bed as he left. Did a promise mean nothing to that bear?
BA stretched before settling back down with his binoculars. He was getting tired of watching the crazy man roam around the beach. Having a beachfront view from their room had been a huge advantage, but how long could the fool saunter back and forth on the same stretch of sand?
It was late in the evening and no one had taken the bait. BA frowned. This was a waste of time. He watched Murdock plop down on the ground and take another swig from his Dom Pérignon bottle. Earlier, the fool had wrinkled his nose at the champagne and poured the liquid into an ice bucket before filling the bottle back up with water. Face would have cringed at the sight.
Man, they had to find Face and Hannibal, fast. Setting down the binoculars, BA surveyed the room. Murdock had gotten everything they needed for a rescue. Rope, guns, ammo and a getaway vehicle, although the rusted Toyota Hiace van was more of a disaster than anything else. At least BA had managed to get it running without randomly sputtering to a halt every five minutes. Now, all they had to do was find Hannibal and Face, which was turning out to be a lot harder than…
Hearing a light knock on the door, BA jumped to his feet. Grabbing a pistol, he crept forward. Murdock had made sure the maids knew not to bother them, so, who could this be? Slowly, he turned the knob.
"Come on BA, Murdock, let us in. We know you're in there."
Hearing the voice, BA smiled and lowered his gun before swinging the door open.
"Face, Hannibal, how'd you escape? Man, how'd you find us?"
Face grinned. "Well, it wasn't that hard. During a location swap we managed to escape from a car trunk and then made a break for it. After that, I called around and when I heard someone had checked in under the name Cat A. Tonic at this motel, I was pretty sure we'd find you and Murdock here. Hasn't he used that one before?"
"Yeah, Face, I think you're right." Hannibal sat one of the queen sized beds and lit his cigar. "Back in Cincinnati, wasn't it? Or was that in Ottawa?"
"It was defiantly Cincinnati. It was the time with that cute little raven haired beauty with the tattoo on her…"
"Oh yeah," Hannibal grinned. "I remember you and her getting pretty cozy."
A dreamy smile lighted the Lieutenant's face. "Oh, she was something…"
BA groaned. "Man, Fool sold my gold for nothing."
"Not necessarily." Hannibal seemed to be taking a quick inventory of the supplies. "This looks just about right to me. I'm assuming that monstrosity of a van parked just outside it ours too."
The Sergeant frowned and nodded. "Murdock picked it out himself."
"Speaking of Murdock…" Face flopped down on a recliner and put his feet up. "…where is he?"
"Fool is out on the beach trying to be like you Face, but he's terrible at it. He heard a group of women were luring in wealthy men and selling them to some thugs. Crazy man thought he's pretend to be a millionaire and get himself caught. Got a tracking device planted in his shoe, but, so far, we ain't had much luck."
Face laughed. "I made some calls already and tracked down the whereabouts of the head honchos in this little kidnapping ring, so we don't need Murdock wandering around the beach any more. I'll go get him. Be right back."
Still chuckling, Face slipped out of the room, leaving BA and Hannibal behind.
"Are you feeling better?"
BA shrugged and glanced over at Hannibal. "Better than I was, I guess."
"So…" Blue eyes sparkling, Hannibal took a puff off his cigar. "Murdock took good care of you then?"
His first reaction was to launch into a tirade about the fool, but BA paused. The fool had done a good job. The crazy man cleaned the apartment, did the laundry, cooked him soup, got his fever down, and, at some point, he had even hauled the TV into BA's bedroom so he could watch the game. The only problem had been that darn bear.
"He did ok," BA muttered, hoping Hannibal would drop the subject; he really didn't wanted to admit how grateful he had been that Murdock had stayed behind.
"Well, you look good, but are you up for this?"
That hurt. BA stared up at the Colonel. "I'd tell you if I wasn't."
"Yeah, I'm sure you…"
The door flung open and a wild eyed Face hurried in.
"He's gone. I couldn't find him anywhere," Face panted. "All I found were these…"
BA let out a weary sigh as his eyes fixed on the Dom Pérignon bottle and the pair of expensive Italian loafers.